Spellbinding Sketches
by Karin Ochibi-chan
Summary: AU Rukia is an aspiring artist accepted for the greatest school of all time. As she attends however, dark secrets begin to unravel and she finds herself the object of a dark obsession. Before she wanted to get in, now all she wants is to get out HitsuRuki
1. The Invitation

**Karin: Hey guys. Here's my first Bleach fanfic. Hope you like it**

**Title: **Spellbinding Sketches

**Rating: **T (might become M later on)

**Pairing: **Hitsugaya(Toushirou)/Rukia and I'll let you know the other pairings next chapter

**Genres: **Supernatural/Romance/Drama/Humor/Fantasy/Hurt/Comfort

**Summary: **AU Rukia Kuchiki was a young an aspiring artist with big ambitions. One of these ambitions was always to get accepted into the prestigious and mysterious school Da Vinci Academy. Once she gets there, however, things begin to change and she learns things beyond the human comprehension that has been hiding for centuries. At first all she wanted was to get in, now Rukia will do everything in her power to get out… too bad a certain white haired male won't let her.

**Disclaimer: **No owning of Bleach.

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**Spellbinding Sketches **

**Chapter One: **

**The Invitation **

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There's something likable about the serenity of the morning. It always has people bask in its gentility and warmness. The sun's soft rays grace your cheeks as you lie against the comfy pillow still in dreamland.

"It's here! It's finally here!"

…well, formally in dreamland that is if a certain body tumbling out of bed was any indication.

A male of nineteen tumbled out of his comfy bed with a loud thump. His wild red hair in a disarray much more than usual due to the term known as "bed head". His brown eyes were half lidded in tiredness and a groan escaped his mouth. Running a hand through his hair, he rose up from the floor and climbed back into bed not bothering to address the noise factor. After all, he was quite use to it and no doubt the noise maker herself would clamp up after a couple of minutes if he just ignored her.

Sadly, that didn't seem to be the case for the male as five seconds later, his bedroom door was slammed open revealing the other occupant of there two bedroom apartment. Standing at 5'1, his roommate and best friend since childhood stood there with all her petite glory.

"RENJI!!!" she exclaimed and flung herself at his bed. Jumping up and down excitedly, bright amethyst eyes sparkled in glee and joy with raven black hair a little passed her shoulders framing her pale face. "Time to wake up Renji! You have to be awake for my epic moment!" the girl commanded continuously jumping on the young adult's bed.

"You can have your epic moment without me" the male groaned out grumpily pulling the covers over his face. Sometimes the male swore that instead of being eighteen, the woman was five.

This apparently did not please the female if her frown was any indication. Without saying anything, she jumped off his bed and walked out of the room. The male sighed in sweet relief that the loud mouth had given up. Now he could get some well deserved shut eye…

Too bad that as soon as he thought that, the female came back into his room with a bucket of ice cold water in it.

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"I hate you" the male muttered in loathing. The black haired female only shrugged at his bad mood.

"It's not my fault that you were too stubborn to get up making me pour cold water on you" the girl waved him off dismissively. "Honestly Renji, show a little more pride for me for this moment" the raven haired girl told her roommate.

The male, Renji, only growled in response. His brown eyes then drifted to the crimson envelope with the elegant sealing of a dragon and a phoenix crossing each other like an X with a chain and ribbon wrapped around the two mythical creatures binding them in black held in her hand. That accursed envelope was the cause of his sleep deprivation.

_I hate you envelope, _Renji cursed at the formation of paper. Was it possible to hate an inanimate object?

"Pff," the male let out a snort. "I don't know why you're getting so excited. You haven't even opened the thing yet! For you know it could say they don't want you" Renji told her bitterly.

The smaller woman replied by bonking the man on the head which was a very comical sight if you count in the fact that he stood almost to six feet and was pretty well-build for his age.

"Ow! Dammit Rukia! I'm just saying this because I don't want you to get your hopes up!" Renji told the female, Rukia. Said female gave him a glare in response.

"How do you know they're going to reject me? For all you know it could say 'Congratulations Ms. Rukia Kuchiki! You've been accepted into our school without much effort and is definitely more achieved than your friend Renji'!" she ended stingily.

Renji's eye twitched in annoyance at her obvious insult to him.

Ah yes, the object of the two friends' argument and the contents of the envelope is sketchy to you readers, isn't it? My apologies. Well, what dear little Rukia has in her hand right now is her reply from her application to one of the most prominent schools in the world to get into. Not an educated person in the world did not know this school's name and reputation.

This educational institution's name: Da Vinci Academy.

Da Vinci Academy—a school dedicated to the sole purpose of pursuing the philosophies, creative arts, and passions of the soul. Many geniuses emerged from this academy and were well known even to this day. Brilliance was this school's definition; success and beauty its entire being. Parents desired to send their children there; young scholars determined themselves into entering its graces of philosophy; high school graduates were awed by the possibility of becoming someone great because of setting foot into the school.

And like all the other millions of dreamers out in the world, Rukia Kuchiki had sent in an application to attend this great school. Ah yes, it wasn't like Rukia wasn't brilliant, heavens no, for she had graduated a year early from high school at the top of all her upperclassmen. She was very intellectual and creative; open-minded and determined.

Her talents in the arts were possibly amazing, or at least that's what everyone at their high school had said. Even the teachers were astounded and awed by this small girl's ability with a pencil and brush. She lived for art. She breathed for art. It was only natural she would want to pursue her desires and love for art in the best school for philosophers and artists alike.

However, that wouldn't be enough to get accepted they both knew. While Rukia could be a bit narcissistic—if constantly talking about being the overlord of Japan in your sleep wasn't a clue, Renji didn't know what was—and sometimes naïve, she was smart enough to consider the possibility of not getting accepted into Da Vinci Academy.

Named after the genius himself, the school was established perhaps a decade after the death of Leonardo Da Vinci— who died in 1519—in 1529. They only accepted the prodigies and young genius of the generations. Rejecting thousands each year, it was scarce for people to get accepted. Most of the time it was years before a single person was accepted into their stone artistic walls.

"You added that last part" Renji said bringing his fist softly on the petite girl's raven head. Rukia swatted her best friend's hand away with a snort and turned her gaze back to the envelope encased in a knuckle-white grip by her hands.

A quiet gulp sounded from her as her hands started shaking. Now that she actually held the envelope, it was nerve wracking on what answer she would get from Da Vinci Academy. It felt like her hands were paralyzed as she made no move to open the envelope to read its written contents.

Finally getting fed up with his friend's hesitation, Renji snatched the envelope from Rukia's hands—"Hey!" Rukia exclaimed angrily—and ripped the blasted thing open not bothering to be careful. Being much taller than Rukia, he was able to read the letter without much trouble even though Rukia bounced up and down in front of him in order to retrieve her letter back.

"'Dear Ms. Rukia Kuchiki'" Renji grinned evilly reading aloud ignoring Rukia's embarrassed shouts of not wanting him to read it, "'Thank you for applying your letter, and after much consideration, we have decided to'…" the male trailed off as his face was frozen into mild shock. All joking from before couldn't be found on his face as he just stared at the letter.

Rukia stopped her jumping to tilt her head to the side in confusion. The small woman wondered what was it in the letter that caused her almost never speechless friend to go… well, speechless.

"What?" she asked him. "What? What is it?" she asked again with more urgency in her voice. Dread was beginning to fill her gut as the worst came into her mind.

She didn't get in. After all that hard work the past year working at a dead end job to pay rent, she didn't get in.

But she had tried so hard! So damn hard in order to get accepted! She sacrificed sleep and most of her social life (for crying out loud, she was living with her only friend!). She had endured surviving only on Starbucks coffee and people whispered about how weird and anti-social she was.

It was unfair. Completely unfair.

Rukia bit her quivering lip in order not to cry. Her amethyst eyes became dewy and her nose began to clog up with mucus. Too absorbed in her misery, the Kuchiki girl didn't hear the thump of Renji fainting on the wooden panel floor. It wasn't until the letter whacked her in the face from the air did she come out of her sorrow to read it for her own eyes.

'_Dear Ms. Rukia Kuchiki', _she read in her mind not trusting her voice. _'Thank you for applying your letter, and after much consideration, we have decided to…' _she read the rest through tear-filled eyes. However, instead of her tears increasing, her eyes became the size of saucers. Rukia repeated reading over the letter in disbelief for about three times before nervous and embarrassed laughter sounded from her lips.

Then she fainted.

'…_to accept you into our academy. We hope that you will be pleased with this outcome' _

Oh yeah, she was speechless!

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"…I got in" Rukia said still with wide eyes. Beside her on the couch was Renji with an ice pack on his head. "…I really got in." she said in shock staring ahead.

Renji raised an eyebrow at her behavior. Apparently Rukia was still in the shock/disbelief stage. Pretty soon though, he was pretty sure she would be bouncing off the walls like a manic.

"WOO-HOO!!!"

Renji stood corrected.

"I got in! I got in! I got in!" Rukia cheered through saying the phrase 'I got in' very quickly over and over making it sound like a bunch of gibberish. She jumped up and down like a bunny rabbit—her favorite animal by the way—with Renji half expecting bunny ears and a tail to appear on her person. The poor male massaged his temples as her loud voice wasn't helping his headache.

He was happy for her; even if it didn't show, he was proud of his best friend. After all the hard work that academy made her do, they had better have accepted her or else he'd come and beat them to a bloody pulp. It had been her goal since she was young to attend that school and by gods no one, not even that stuck up school itself, had the right to deny Rukia's ambition.

But there was one thing Renji wasn't pleased about besides his view of Da Vinci being filled with pompous rich or intellectual snobby morons. It was bad enough he wouldn't be with the Kuchiki to protect her—let's face it, she sticks out like a sore thumb. She's bound to draw some unwanted attention—but he wouldn't even be able to see her period!

For the accursed school, Da Vinci Academy, was in Italy.

_Italy_ people! They were currently in _Japan_. Do you see the dilemma here folks?

And it was this fact that he couldn't help but have more detestation for the school. It was taking his best friend away from him. From childhood, he and Rukia had never been apart like this. They were a duo; a pair. Anyone who even _attempted_ to get between them would suffer dire consequences.

He was tempted to say no. To tell her to forget about that stupid school and stay here with him. She could get into any university here in Japan and still live with him. She didn't have to go to the best art school in order to pursue a career in art.

But then he would look at her excited face and the desire to make her stay would be pushed back down. He couldn't do that to her. Rukia didn't like to be in some cage. She wanted to be free. She wanted to be able to make her own choices. She was just stubborn like that.

What right did he have to try and cage her like some animal?

None. None whatsoever, he concluded.

Renji's brown eyed gaze turned to look at his jumping friend solemnly. However, his gaze wasn't on her cheerful face, but on her left leg. If you look closely enough, you would see while she was jumping, that her right leg was doing more of the work. It wasn't just when she was jumping, but when she walked as well.

She limped slightly.

Of course, no one really noticed it. It was hard to tell especially since she wore baggy pants all the time even back in high school. Unless you had a sharp eye or already knew what you were looking for, you would never realize Rukia had a limp in her left leg.

She was very good at hiding it.

Although she told him constantly that she didn't care or mind the limp, he knew better. Sure, she had accepted her limp, but not the chronic pain she got with it. He saw it, when she paused in her steps from time to time or if her face would converse into an expression of pain before going back to being normal, that it did indeed bother her. She had to take painkillers constantly in order to dull the pain.

Renji suspected she had become an addict for them a long time ago. Still, when he had confronted her about it, she would reply that _if_ she was an addict, it wasn't interfering with her lifestyle therefore it wasn't a problem.

And she was right, he admitted begrudgingly. Even if she got hyped up on painkillers from time to time, Rukia hadn't allowed it to mess up her studies or lifestyle. She was still the same person without much of a personality change.

Another thing he wasn't comfortable with: Rukia being in another country possibly getting hyped up on painkillers.

Just because they weren't interfering with her lifestyle didn't mean she didn't need to cut back on them.

A rough poking on his forehead made him come out of his musings.

"Oi! Stop spacing out and celebrate with me" Rukia told him with a stern expression. "You're looking at the new student of Da Vinci Academy. You should be basking in my presence right now" she said with an annoyed expression.

Renji glared at her and slapped her hand away in irritation. There she goes again being full of herself.

"You narcissist! Get over yourself" he told her.

"What was that?!" she screeched and pounced on the taller male with vengeance. Who was that moron calling a narcissist?!

"Ow! Get off me crazy woman!" And thus started a brawl between the two best friends.

Renji would miss this, he thought sadly. He didn't want her to get hurt. He wanted to keep Rukia safe. He wanted to protect her from all the bad things in the world. Rukia was very important to him after all. Nonetheless, even though it would hurt him, he knew that this is what she wanted more than anything.

And who was it of him to stop her?

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"Ah!" Rukia let out a sigh in bliss as she laid back on her bed. A mug of hot chocolate was on her bedside table while a book was on her stomach. She wore grey sweatpants and a purple tank top for bed with white ankle socks. Her normally let down hair was in a low ponytail as she picked up her book to resume reading.

Nevertheless, her mind was on anything but the written text.

"I can't believe I actually made it" she murmured to herself in astonishment. Even now, it seemed so surreal that she was actually going to Da Vinci Academy. It was like a dream.

Still, she supposed there were downsides to going to Italy. Not only would she be surrounded by complete strangers—she was always shy with new people sadly, a trait Renji said made her cute—but she wouldn't have Renji with her anymore and that pained her. Renji was her best friend and possibly the only one to ever put up with her craziness. They were like peanut butter and jelly; toothpaste and toothbrush; macaroni and cheese. You get the picture.

But then again, he seemed okay with her going. And she could always call him, Rukia reminded herself to stay on the positive side. An evil grin came upon her face; oh yeah, she could call him at three in the morning to just say hi. That would seriously annoy him.

Rukia then put down her book and grabbed a container on her nightstand. Unscrewing the top, she poured out two white pills and plopped them in her mouth. As she did so, her eyes caught a small picture of a woman. The woman was very beautiful and an exact replica of Rukia. Although, there were some differences in them. The biggest being the woman's soft smile upon her gentle face. This woman, even just by looking at her, was definitely not as brash and energetic as Rukia. No, she was more gentle and calm.

The Kuchiki smiled fondly at the photo. Even when she was a child, Rukia would find her features softening at the sight of this woman.

"Hey mom," Rukia greeted. "I made it like I promised. Hope you're proud of me" Rukia said with a gentle face.

"I love you" Rukia told her just as she always did. A yawn then escaped her lips and she was surprised to find that it was near eleven at night. Getting under the covers, the Kuchiki turned off the light, the last thing her seeing was her mother's smile.

Oh if only she knew. If only Rukia Kuchiki knew of what would happen in the future. Oh how her life will change; perhaps if she had seen what would happen when she was accepted into Da Vinci, maybe she would've backed out.

But then again, she can't see. Because if she did, we really wouldn't have our story now would we?

And thus Fate takes its course on our unknowing artist.

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**Karin: There you go. Hope you liked the first chapter! Please leave a review on the way out. I would really appreciate it if you could. **

**Anyway, this story is dedicated to the HitsuRuki army and I hope—if any of the members actually reads this story—that they will like this story. I hope to join you guys someday if that's okay. **

**So yeah, I'll definitely be doing a dark Hitsugaya in this so just letting you guys know. Come on, you know you love a dark and possessive Hitsugaya (nudges you while grinning). On a side note, Renji only thinks of Rukia as a sister so just in case anyone got the crush vibe; they're just really close as siblings. Just wanted to clear that up for anyone. **

**See ya Next time! **


	2. The Arriving

**Karin: Woah, people liked the beginning? I'm so happy! Thanks for the support from the first chapter I hope you like the rest of the story. **

**Hitsugaya: Aren't you being a little emotional?**

**Karin: I thought no one would like it. Let me have my moment please. **

**Hitsugaya: Weirdo**

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Bleach, I would make sure HitsuRuki would be cannon… sadly, I do not own Bleach so that dream goes down the toilet.

**Title: **Spellbinding Sketches

**Rating: **T (might become M later on)

**Pairing: **Hitsugaya(Toushirou)/Rukia, Matsumoto/Gin, Byukuya/Hisana, erm… still thinking over some others…

**Genres: **Supernatural/Romance/Drama/Humor/Fantasy/Hurt/Comfort/Horror

**Summary: **AU Rukia Kuchiki was a young an aspiring artist with big ambitions. One of these ambitions was always to get accepted into the prestigious and mysterious school Da Vinci Academy. Once she gets there, however, things begin to change and she learns things beyond the human comprehension that has been hiding for centuries. At first all she wanted was to get in, now Rukia will do everything in her power to get out… too bad a certain white haired male won't let her.

**Replies to Reviews from Chapter One: **

**Yumegirl91- **Congrats on being the first reviewer! And you used one of my favorite words to describe the chapter too. (laughs)

**-vedette26- **Good point; who wouldn't love that? (laughs) Thank you for complimenting and I'm glad you like how I portrayed Rukia. Hope you like the next chapter as well.

**Blackbelt- **Oh my god! You're my favorite author of all time! Would you be honored if I told you it was you who got me to love HitsuRuki? It's now one of my favorite pairings in general—my friends say I'm on crack but then again, they support HitsuHina and don't even like Hinamori so I don't know who's more on crack (chuckles)—and I'm so glad others support them like I do. Anyway, so I can join the army? Yes! Thank you! I love you, Soutaichou!

PS- I have two ideas for topic discussions on the forum and I was wondering if you'd approve of them being put up?

Topic 1: Why do we like HitsuRuki so much? What is it about them that makes us fangirl scream?

Topic 2: If the HitsuRuki army ruled the world, what county would you want and what other tidbits would the HitsuRuki army do if they ruled the world?

You can shorten the titles of course, but I wanted to give it some detail so you have a better time considering if you want them on the forum or not.

**Yuri-chan1713- **Really? Good luck with your application. I too also like art and want to attend an art school. I don't think my parents will let me go to Italy though for school (laughs). Hope you like this chapter as well.

**Phoenix-aerith- **I'm happy that you liked the beginning. I made you speechless? Sweetness! It's good to know you had some laughs. Yeah, I don't think it will become M—I'd be way too embarrassed to go _that_ far if you know what I mean—but it's just a precaution in case it actually does. I just wanted to let people know that it could be a possibility earlier on, you know? Don't worry about the sugar highness, I too am hyper when I have sugar hehe.

**Haku fan1- **Thank you so much. I'm very happy to find that a lot of people liked the beginning.

**Insomnia009s- **Hope this is soon enough for you (laughs).

**Tsuki Miyamoto- **Yup! I'm glad you read this even though you don't like the pairing much. I won't force you to read this if you don't like it, but still, thanks for the praise.

**Rose-of-alabaster- **I actually did get the limping thing from House. Yeah, poor Renji having to deal with that. Oh well, thanks for the good luck wishes.

**Wickedsistah1024- **It's nice to meet you too, Wicked-chan! You think I'm a brilliant author? My face is all red in embarrassment and humbleness from your praises. I hope you continue to find this story to your liking.

**Sweet disturbia- **I'm glad that you like my writing. I usually have low confidence in myself so those kinds of compliments make me feel worthwhile.

**Hikari6007- **True, true. Hitsugaya is too sexy as dark and possessive.

**CookieNCream- **Definitely the best kind! I hope you are here to witness the rest of the story.

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**Spellbinding Sketches**

**Chapter Two: **

**The Arriving **

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Under the many blankets lied a short eighteen year old girl sleeping peacefully with some droll hanging out of her mouth. However, you couldn't tell it was a girl if you just looked at the bed. To any person who was looking in, the mass of blankets looked like it was covering a blob.

"Yes, bow down to my awesome army of Chappy rabbits…" the young female's voice said blissfully with an evil grin on her face. "Bow down to the overlord Rukia…mwhahahahaha"

And apparently the blob was having a _very_ good dream.

The sun's rays shined on the mass of white blankets through transparent white curtains. Birds chirped outside the window at the wonderful morning. In fact, their insolent chirping was so loud and joyous it stirred the blob herself.

The being under the blankets let out a groan as her dream was interrupted by some stupid birds. She was at the part where Renji was bowing down to her greatness and those stupid birds had to ruin it!

With a hiss of frustration, the female with black raven hair and irritated amethyst eyes threw off the covers to shut her window. Getting up from her bed sluggishly, the female trudged over to the window to slam it shut. It closed with a loud bang making the birds fly away startled.

Once that was done, the half-awake woman turned to return to her comfy bed. Upon passing the dresser, however, her amethyst eyes caught something. Looking at it closely, it took about five seconds before fully awake violet eyes widened in panic.

"Oh shit! I overslept!" she immediately raced off towards the other occupant's room of the apartment. Several crashes and bangs ensured as she fumbled to reach the sleeping redhead's room.

Thus began the day of Rukia Kuchiki.

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Renji was having a nice dream. It was filled with food and quiet. No Rukia to steal his food or disrupt his thoughts. Nope. Nadda. Zip. A goofy grin settled on the male's face as he dreamed of some beef.

And there was no Rukia bursting into his room to wake him up. How could it get any better than this?

Regretfully, when will Renji learn that as soon as he thinks Rukia's going to leave him alone, she appears right at that moment to annoy the hell out of him?

Probably never, but it was worth trying.

It was just then that his door burst open and there stood his best friend since childhood Rukia Kuchiki. Her hair was disheveled and her pajamas were wrinkled. Amethyst eyes were wide in panic and she sported a couple of bruises from falling down so much trying to scramble to his room.

"RENJI!!!!!" she yelled in desperation. "Wake up! We overslept!" she shouted frantically. She ran over to his bed in a flash and began to pull him out by his leg. It's a shame it wasn't really working.

Renji let out a groan and cracked one of his brown eyes open. Couldn't this woman take a break from being a loudmouth for at least one second?!

"What?" he muffled out through his pillow. Having figured that Rukia couldn't drag him out of bed, she grabbed his digital clock roughly and shoved it in his face.

It read 9:38am.

They were supposed to leave at seven.

"Oh shit!" Renji shouted now fully awake. He fell out of bed disoriented as Rukia dug into his drawer and tossed him a pair of clothes. "We overslept!" Renji cried and hastily, yet clumsily, tried to put on his jeans and t-shirt. Rukia had left his room in order to change into clothes herself.

More crashes and booms sounded throughout the apartment.

Now the day of Rukia Kuchiki _and_ Renji Abarai commenced.

**------------------------------------**

Huffing and panting, the duo fell into plastic chairs of Platform 18 of Tokyo Airport. It was well passed noon—for they lived in Karakura, not Tokyo—and Rukia most definitely missed her flight. They had to buy another ticket for her and now all they had to do was wait.

Too bad they could hardly move from running so much.

"Why…" Renji panted out. "Why didn't you wake up earlier?" he asked the raven haired woman who turned to glare at him.

"_Excuse me?_ Don't try and pin this all on me! You're the one with the alarm clock" Rukia retorted sharply despite her exhausted state. Renji's right eye twitched at her reply.

"You should get one yourself instead of depending on me to wake up to a blazing alarm" Renji told her in outrage. Rukia ignored him and let out a sigh.

"I guess I should've expected this. You can sleep through anything, you log" Rukia said sticking her tongue out at the end.

Renji responded by whacking her upside the head. Rukia let out a yelp of pain and clutched her noggin.

"What was that for?!" she turned to him in rage. Renji's eye twitched again.

"It's your own damn fault that you keep breaking your alarm clocks!" he shouted back at her.

"It's the alarm clock's fault for being so loud that it wakes me up!" Rukia growled back at him.

"That's what they're supposed to do you idiot!"

By this time people all around were staring at the two bickering best friends. Instead of sitting in the chairs, Rukia and Renji were now standing up and glaring at each other menacingly.

Oblivious to all the stares, the two continue to yell and insult each other. Parents dragged their children away from the crazy duo while people moved away—far, _far_ away—and were tempted to call security to removed the insane female and male. However, even security guards were too scared to approach the two young adults.

"You know what? Your face is just like your mind! BLANK!" Renji stated.

"Well me and your mirror have something in common; we both crack up every time we look at your face" Rukia replied.

Somehow they moved on to "your face" insults. Cue unison sweat drops on all of the bystanders.

"_Platform 18: flight from Japan to Italy." _a voice on the speaker announced causing the two best friends to cease their banter. _"Platform 18: flight from Japan to Italy" _it repeated.

It was then that all sparking enthusiasm was sucked out of the two replaced with the reality of them being separated. As people hurriedly grabbed their stuff in order to get on the plane and away from the two nutjobs, the two just stood there staring at each other—like they unsure on what to do next.

Rukia gulped; this was harder than she pictured it to be. In her mind she would just say goodbye and promise to write/call, but as she now stood here, it felt as if all the words she wanted to say were trapped in her throat. She knew, rather than saw, that Renji was the same.

It seemed like an agonizing eternity before Rukia felt a plastic smile stretch on her features. She didn't want to say goodbye. A part of her told her to just stay here with Renji and forget about Da Vinci. However, another part of her told the first part to shut up.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye" she told him still smiling. "I'll be sure to call or write or something, kay?" she told him. "So Renji—"

She was interrupted when Renji whacked her on the head. But unlike his usual bonks on the head, this one was gentle making a 'plok' sound.

"Oi, at least show me your real smile and not some cover up" Renji said sternly. "And it's not goodbye" he said.

"Eh?" Rukia asked. Renji's hand was still on her hair. He petted it affectionately while she continued to look at him in confusion.

"It's 'I'll see you later'" Renji grinned out. "And if we ever get lonely, we'll get on the first flight and see each other, alright?" that grin was still present on his face.

Rukia just stared at him for a few seconds before her violet eyes softened and she reached up to grasp his hand on her head gently. They stayed like that for a few more seconds until Rukia spoke.

"Aa; I'll hold you to that" Rukia replied nodding. Renji responded by ruffling her raven locks.

"Good; you better do your best, you hear?" he said. Rukia nodded with a look of determination and saluted to him in a military fashion.

"Yessir!" she said standing straight.

"And you better write or call from time to time" Renji ordered.

"Sir, yessir!" Rukia yelled out.

"_And_," he said stressing the word showing it was important, "Don't forget that even when we're far away, I'll always be there for you" Renji ended with a fond smile.

However, it soon turned to a comical look of surprise when he caught Rukia tearing up. She sniffled once or twice as he looked at her in embarrassment.

"What?!" he snapped.

"It's just," she sniffled, "I never would've imagined a moron like you to be so emotional!" she choked on a sob. Renji slapped his forehead in order to keep himself from whacking the shorter female.

"Yeah, yeah, but I'm not the one who's being a crybaby" Renji told her as he steered her to the entrance of the Platform. Poor Rukia was sniffling all the way causing a few bystanders to raise an eyebrow and steer away from the duo.

Just as she was about to board on the tunnel leading to the plane, she froze as if something occurred to her. Her sniffling ceased as her eyes widened with dread.

"Ack! We have to go back!" she exclaimed as she tried to turn around. Renji raised an eyebrow at her behavior.

"What for?" he inquired of his friend. Rukia turned to him with a look of absolute horror.

"I forgot my Chappy doll at the apartment!" she wailed.

_WHAM!!!_

Renji had a vein throbbing as Rukia was on the floor clutching her poor head. A fist was clenched near his cheek as his eyebrow was twitching.

"Get on the plane already!" he shouted at her.

"But my Chappy—"

Another whack on the head interrupted her.

"Forget it! I'll mail it to you!" Renji snapped and kicked her in the butt towards the boarding tunnel. Rukia let out a yelp as she toppled back down to the floor. Not bothering to help her up, Renji turned and started walking away as Rukia wheeled her suitcase onto the plane with a gloom cloud over her head.

**------------------------------**

_I want Chappy, _Rukia moped in her seat as she gazed out of the window. Stupid Renji; did he not realize how much Chappy was important to her? She had the thing since she was two for crying out loud! Sixteen years she's had that adorable stuffed rabbit and he makes a mockery out of it by telling her he'll _mail_ it to her. Stupid Renji indeed.

It was embarrassing to say the least that she still slept with a stuffed animal. But Chappy was so _comfy_ and _soft_… plus he always made the nightmares go away. Chappy was like her personal dream catcher. He always made Rukia feel safe and comforted. Always made her sleep peacefully and tranquilly. In fact, Rukia was pretty sure that if Chappy was alive, he would grab even more of her attention than Renji does!

Renji often told her it was pathetic to carry around a stuffed animal, even when it's in your own home away from prying eyes. Course he would always get a smack in the head for it, but it was always like him to pick on the fact that she can't sleep without her stuffed animal Chappy.

How could she not sleep with the slightly tattered rabbit? He was a gift from her mother on Christmas when she was two years old. She had never parted from the velvety treasure her mother had given her as to this day. Even when her mother had passed, she kept the stuffed rabbit whispering to it as a child as if her mother was watching over her through that tattered rabbit.

It was a silly notion, but children are desperate to have some sort of comfort when they lose a parent. Rukia never had a father; she didn't know him. It was only her and her mother through most of her childhood. She never minded. Her mother made up for the absence of a father by loving Rukia twice as much.

The eighteen year old then shook her head to clear such thoughts. All of this thinking was making her more depressed about her beloved Chappy. Her stomach chose to chime in at that second to alert her of her impending hunger. Reaching into her shoulder bag, Rukia searched for a snack that she packed the night before.

However, instead of finding something crunchy, the female's hand touched something soft and furry. Getting curious, Rukia brought the bag to her face to inspect it.

There it was. It was her precious Chappy.

Letting out an uncharacterized squeal, the woman pulled out the aged bunny and hugged it tightly to her chest. She nuzzled the soft white—more of a dirty white since of its age—rabbit to her cheek in contentment. A folded paper then fell onto her lap.

Rukia raised an eyebrow at the folded paper in curiosity. Holding Chappy in her arm, she carefully picked up the paper and unfolded it delicately. Now fully open, she gazed greedily at its contents.

_Dear idiot, _

_Knew you would forget to pack that stupid rabbit so I did it for you. It's still weird that you sleep with a stuffed animal but it's better than you crying your eyes out until I mail it to you. _

_If anyone else teases you about it, tell me so I can beat the crap out of them, okay? I'm the only one who can pick on that stupid rabbit! _

_-Renji _

"Moron" Rukia muttered irritated. Nonetheless, a soft smile was present on her features, "I'll whack you for insulting my rabbit"

**--------------------------------**

The plane ride had gone surprisingly well. Rukia was pleased as she wheeled her suitcase out of the tunnel from the plane into the airport. It felt relaxingly good to be able to move her limbs freely and walk around again.

Amethyst eyes looked on in wonder as Rukia's face was formed into a large grin. She couldn't believe it. She was here; she made it to Italy.

And the success of her accomplishments never felt so good.

Perhaps it was her narcissism speaking, but Rukia couldn't help but give herself a well-deserved pat on the back for being so amazing. After all, she worked her butt off for years to just get a silly acceptance letter from Da Vinci and she wasn't going to go there without giving herself the praises she deserved.

Letting out a sigh in gratification, the young woman wheeled her suitcase quickly over to the doors leading outside. Sunlight and fresh air greeted her in excessive force making her stumble a bit, but nonetheless welcomed it with open arms.

Rukia laughed a little as she spun around taking in her surroundings like a child seeing the world for the first time. She dropped her suitcase and spread her arms out wide like a bird meanwhile still spinning.

"I made it! Woo-hoo!" she sang out happily. Her laugh was louder this time with full euphoria. It felt great; it felt amazing.

It felt extraordinary.

She could've been there all day just spinning around like a moron, but the angry looks and words of people she unconsciously hit with her arms brought her back down to earth. The Kuchiki blushed in embarrassment and grabbed her suitcase, shifting her duffel bag on her shoulder, and ran like the wind away from the airport.

Currently, Rukia was located in the city of Florence—not Rome where she was supposed to be. In order to get to Rome, Rukia would have to take a train over to Rome and find her bearings there. It would be a hassle, but Rukia was well prepared for any hardships that came her way.

What's the worst that could happen?

**----------------------------------**

Okay, screw that. The worst has happened.

Rukia grumbled out in misery as she walked along the streets of Florence in dismay. It was official—she was the biggest idiot in all of Italy. One of a kind she was; her stupidity couldn't be rivaled that was for sure.

And what is Rukia so miserable about, you ask? Well it's simple my dear readers.

She forgot to change her currency.

That's right. All Rukia had on her was _Japanese_ money. Now that's not going to do her good in a country where they use _Italian_ money.

You're probably thinking right now: why doesn't she just go to a bank to change her currency?

That's simple as well—Rukia was lost and had no idea where the bank was. Sure, she could get a map, but then again, maps cost money and what didn't she have? _Money_.

Ah yes, it sucked to be Rukia Kuchiki right now.

_I hate my life, _Rukia thought with a pessimistic aura. _Why? Why does it always have to be me? Why can't it be some guy at the Starbucks or even _Renji_? Renji would be of more entertainment to whatever divine being is up there if he was in this situation. _

The sky was beginning to darken with the sun halfway down and Rukia wasn't in the mood to walk around all night in the unfamiliar streets of Florence. Wheeling her suitcase along, Rukia plopped ungracefully on a bench with a loud sigh of frustration.

With a grumpy expression, the Kuchiki placed her chin in her palms thinking. She could call Renji and tell him what's up, but what would that do her? He would never let her live this humiliation down nor could he do anything since he was in Japan.

Calling Renji? No absolute fricken way.

"What's a woman gotta do around here to get to Rome without problems?!" Rukia shouted as she stood up from the bench with her fists clenched at her sides. Goosebumps rose on her arms from the cold air. She was only wearing baggy navy jeans, a lilac tank top, purple and white tennis sneakers, and a white light jacket tired around her petite waist. However, being too lazy to essentially _untying_ the stinking jacket to put it on, Rukia rubbed her arms from the cold air.

"Buona sera, signorina," greeted a lively voice. "Come sta?" he asked her. ("Good evening, miss" "How are you?")

Rukia snapped her head over to the direction of the voice to find a man walking up to her a few feet away. He stood much taller than her—probably a little shorter than Renji—with long white hair in a low ponytail and good-natured eyes. An easy-going smile was present on his features as he was dressed in a navy button down shirt and black slacks.

Rukia looked around before turning her gaze back at the man. With a confused expression, she pointed a finger to herself indicating if he was talking to her. He nodded and his expression changed to one of worry.

"Puo` parlare italiano?" he asked the raven haired girl. ("Can you speak Italian?")

Realizing that he was indeed speaking to her, the Kuchiki girl felt her face light up in embarrassment. She quickly opened her mouth to reply in broken Italian.

"S-si! Si! Posso parlare italiano, signore!" she responded. ("Y-yes! Yes! I can speak Italian, sir!") Rukia then looked down at her feet sheepishly, "Ancora, non sono buona con italiano" ("Still, I'm not good with Italian")

The man let out a good-hearted chuckle at her words. As she watched him, Rukia would have to conclude the male was maybe in his mid-twenties or so.

"Lei e` intelligente, signorina!" he replied. ("You are intelligent, miss!") The man then continued, "Parla la lingua buona!" he complimented her making her blush ("You speak the language well").

Feeling a bit inferior to this man, Rukia cleared her throat and inquired of the man.

"Puo` parla giapponese, signore?" she fumbled with her fingers. It's not like she didn't enjoy the language of Italian. On the contrary, she thought it to be a beautiful language, but she didn't like the aspect of making a fool of herself in front of a native—actually, she never liked making a fool of herself when it came to the intelligent factor. ("Can you speak Japanese, sir?")

"Why yes I can!" he said in her native language flawlessly unlike her broken Italian. "Are you Japanese?" he asked Rukia.

"Yeah" Rukia nodded, "I just arrived in Florence today" she told him. To this, the man raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you in Firenze, I might ask?" he inquired of her.

"I'm attending school here," Rukia replied. "Well, not _here_ in Florence—I'm going to school in Rome." she added.

"Roma?" he asked her while a smile came to his face. "I live in Roma! I am going to head back there in a few minutes as a matter of fact. I have a car waiting for me around the corner" the man explained to her.

"What are you doing in Florence then?" Rukia raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm," the white haired man looked thoughtful for one minute before he turned back to her with a smile, "I had some business to attend to but it's all done now" he replied with an aura of mystery. Rukia felt her curiosity swam but she kept silent not wanting to seem forward with the man.

"So, why aren't you in Roma yourself?" his question brought her back to reality. Rukia turned her head to him before replying.

"I have some… technicalities that prevent me from getting to Rome" she hesitatingly answered him.

_Technicalities my butt! I'm downright screwed! _Rukia screamed in her head in panic, but kept a pleasant and calm façade in front of the stranger. Consumed in her internal conflict, she didn't watch as the man's face changed into that of concern.

"Really? Perhaps I could lend you some assistance?" he suggested. Rukia snapped out of her thoughts when she heard his suggestion. Immediately, the young woman began protesting saying she could very well take care of herself. Her pride always ruled over what was best for her. "Now, now. I can't very well leave a young woman alone when it's getting close to dark. After all, you said yourself that you were having some difficulties so I shall assist you" he explained to her not taking her no for an answer.

"B-b-but we're strangers! How do I know if I can trust you?" Rukia asked with a tone of suspicion. "For all I know you could be some serial rapist trying to pick up an innocent girl" she told the man still with a distrusting look in her eyes.

"Oh! How silly of me! I never introduced myself!" the man let out a laugh as if he didn't hear her accuse him of being a rapist. "I am Ukitake Juushirou—you say your surname before your given one, correct?—and you are?" the man, Ukitake, introduced himself.

"Kuchiki Rukia" Rukia said with a tired sigh. For some reason, this guy was tiring her out.

"Well then, Rukia-chan, shall we go?" Ukitake asked and picked up her suitcase and duffel bag. Once he had her stuff, he began walking down the corner.

"H-hey! Wait up!" Rukia called and chased after the man who walked at a slow pace for her to catch up.

**---------------------------------**

It was well into the night as Rukia chatted with Ukitake in the back of his car. He was an intelligent and pleasant man, surprisingly. He enjoyed classical music and was well refined in art history. Every sight they passed, he pointed out and gave her a summary of facts that she was sure weren't even in the history books. He knew so much and it amazed her how his head could contain so much information without it exploding.

After hours of laughter and good-natured conversations, the black car pulled up to a stop. It was probably about three in the morning with the white glowing moon hanging in the night sky.

"Well, this is your stop, Rukia-chan" Ukitake said as Rukia turned to him with curiosity burning in her amethyst orbs.

"Eh?" was her intelligent response.

"This is where you need to be, right?" he asked her smiling as if he knew something she didn't.

Rukia didn't get what he was talking about, but got out of the car anyway. She grabbed her suitcase and duffel bag as she went. Once she was out the door, she could've sworn Ukitake said something.

"I hope we meet again soon, Rukia-chan"

The Kuchiki didn't reply as she just stared at the iron tall gates in front of her in astonishment. Her eyes then drifted to the golden plank on the cobbled wall beside the gates.

Da Vinci Academy.

Founded in 1529

"Hey, Ukitake-san, I never said that I was…" she turned around only to find nothing there in the road. The black car was gone—it's puzzling occupant along with it.

"What a weird man" she muttered to herself taking out her painkillers. She hadn't had one that day and the pain in her leg was unbearable. Leaning against the wall and sliding to the concrete ground, she placed two pills into her mouth and swallowed. "Oh well, at least I got where I'm supposed to be" she said not really caring about the fact that Ukitake seemed to exactly know she was going here even without her saying anything.

Suddenly, the sound of the gates being opened roused Rukia from her thoughts. She turned towards the direction of the noise to see a woman possibly in her early twenties. Very attractive she was with dark hair, a beauty mark on her cheek, and glasses. She was dressed professionally making Rukia assume she probably worked there.

"Oh, there you are" she greeted the younger woman. Her face was still in a serious expression as she looked at Rukia, "It took longer than expected, but you've finally arrived. I trust the trip went well" the woman said to Rukia.

"Aa. It was fine" Rukia replied gathering her stuff and following the woman inside the courtyard. Being too dark for Rukia to see, she could not marvel at the beautiful surroundings and architecture of the Academy that you normally see in the daytime.

"I am Ise Nanao. It's a pleasure to meet you Kuchiki-san" the woman, Nanao, told Rukia showing obviously Rukia didn't need to introduce herself. The courtyard seemed to have stretched on forever to the small woman, but Rukia didn't make a fuss. Nanao seemed to know where she was going and Rukia wouldn't question this issue for Nanao has been here longer than her. "Before you are shown to your room, the principals would like an audience with you" she continued talking to the raven haired girl.

"Principals?" questioned Rukia with a raised eyebrow. Nanao nodded.

"Yes, Da Vinci has two headmasters" Nanao said and for a split second, Rukia could've sworn she saw a trace of exasperation cross on the stone faced woman. "They told me that as soon as you arrive, you were to be taken to their office immediately to meet them" Nanao explained.

"Ah, okay then" Rukia nodded to her. Walking through the giant outside halls of Da Vinci, their steps echoing in an eerie fashion, Rukia squinted up at the marble sculptures adored on the pillars. Very detailed and specific they were. Elegant, graceful, yet frightening and terrifying at the same time.

On one side of the pillars were angels. Beautiful sculptures of spread out wings and harps in their flawless hands. Rukia could almost imagine hearing a soothing tune from the harp.

But on the other side, Rukia shivered, were nothing like angels. Creatures of darkness lurked on the other side across from the angel pillars. Ugly and wicked hiding in the shadows of the night. While looking at the angels, Rukia had a warm feeling erupt in her; however, with these demons, she felt nothing but cold.

Feeling that the ominous air was suffocating, Rukia rubbed her arms in an effort to warm themselves from the chilling feeling. She shuddered as she took another look at the angels then the demons. Nanao didn't seem to notice her discomfort or just didn't care as they walked along the white titled hallway.

Finally well inside the school, approaching two brown double doors, the Da Vinci crest of the Phoenix and the Dragon smack dab in the middle of them, Nanao turned to the raven haired female.

"The masters will see you now. If any trouble happens, just call for me and I'll settle it" Rukia tilted her head in confusion but nodded nevertheless. Seeing that Rukia understood, Nanao opened the doors and ushered her inside. Once Rukia was inside, the doors shut behind her and Nanao was gone from her company.

No lights were on and Rukia could hardly see five inches in front of her face. Rubbing her arms from the cold, Rukia examined her surroundings as best as she could only to have no luck whatsoever.

"Erm… hello?" she asked out. "I'm Kuchiki Rukia and Nanao-san said to come here—"

Suddenly, the lights were flickered on and Rukia was slammed into by something.

Actually two somethings.

"RRRRRUUUUUKKKKKIIIIIIIIIII-CCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

* * *

**Karin: Okay! There you have it folks! I hope you liked this chapter. Ooh! Who are the mysterious headmasters? What did Nanao mean by call her if there's any trouble? Why is the sky blue? All these questions will be answered next chapter! **

…**well, maybe not the why is the sky blue one… **

**So, anyway, I hope that I got my Italian right. I mean, yeah, I'm in my third year of doing the language but even I make mistakes. Also, the reason I used the "he/she" form instead of the "you" form when Ukitake was speaking to Rukia was because he was speaking to her in a formal sense. After all, she was a stranger so he wouldn't be all informal would he? **

**Moving on, hope everyone's Turkey Day is swell and have fun, okay? **

**Hope you leave a review on the way out… come on, you know you want to (laughs) **

**See ya Next time! **


	3. The School

**Hitsugaya: **_**(looks around) **_**Oi, where is that idiot Karin? She's the author of this for pete's sake and she's not even here! **

**Karin: **_**(snores in the background drooling) **_**Yes I would like some orange soda flavored cookies… **_**(snore) **_

**Hitsugaya: **_**(sweat drops) **_**Well I guess since school's been tiring she'd need to sleep but leaving me to do her author's notes is ridiculous. That moron. **

**Karin: **_**(throws pillow hitting Hitsugaya square in the face) **_**Fluffy things aren't supposed to be mean. **_**(goes back to sleep) **_

**Hitsugaya: Wait a second! Do the replies before you go back to sleep you irresponsible twit! **

**Title: **Spellbinding Sketches

**Rating: **T (might become M later on)

**Pairing: **Hitsugaya(Toushirou)/Rukia, Matsumoto/Gin, Byukuya/Hisana, erm… still thinking over some others…

**Genres: **Supernatural/Romance/Drama/Humor/Fantasy/Hurt/Comfort/Horror

**Summary: **AU Rukia Kuchiki was a young an aspiring artist with big ambitions. One of these ambitions was always to get accepted into the prestigious and mysterious school Da Vinci Academy. Once she gets there, however, things begin to change and she learns things beyond the human comprehension that has been hiding for centuries. At first all she wanted was to get in, now Rukia will do everything in her power to get out… too bad a certain white haired male won't let her.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach**

**Replies to Reviews from Chapter Two:**

**Rose-of-alabaster- **Chappy rabbits rule! I love Chappy almost as much as I love ramen! Don't worry, there's a giggling fangirl in all of us (laughs).

**Tsuki Miyamoto- **Thank you! That's so nice! I guess it's not so bad that Toushirou had to wake me up to do these replies (sniffles) but then again, he didn't have to kick me to do so! Glad you had some laughs.

**Blackbelt- **My PM is often unreliable because it's my friend's email, but I could always request again on the forum since you fixed it. By the way, you did a good job—it's much more organized now, Soutaichou. Anyway, of course you're my favorite author! You're the best, Soutaichou! I know it may sound weird but it was your stories that had the most influence on me to join fanfiction in the first place! You're just that awesome! XD Yes, Rukia is an amazing overlord! Hope you continue to enjoy yourself with this story.

PS- Thank you for wishing me a happy Thanksgiving. It was indeed very wonderful and I hope it was the same for you as well for the Christmas Holidays. Santa Claus rules!

**SylvanSpirit- **Glad to see you like it so far. Hope you'll like this chapter as well.

**-vedette26- **True indeed. Ukitake is awesome in this, isn't he? I'm glad you liked the chapter. Hmm, you'll just have to wait and see who it was now won't you? XD

**Hikari6007- **You'll find out in this chapter. Happy to know you like this so far.

**Insomnia009s- **Very happy that you want another update for this story.

**Haku fan1- **Gotta love Ukitake and his candy giving ways. (laughs)

**ViperineVampire- **You'll find out soon, my friend (grins).

**CookieNCream- **Well, I know I like it when authors reply to me so I do the same for my reviewers to let them know I appreciate them taking time out of their schedule just to review my stories. Of course I don't mind you sticking around! Randomness is awesomeness I say. (smiles) Thank you for the happy thanksgiving wishes—I hope yours was just as pleasant as mine. As for the headmasters, you'll just have to keep reading to find out. Haha, I just read your joke again and it made me crack up like the first time I read it. Hmm, Toushirou on caffeine… hard to imagine but it would surely be something to post on you tube if it ever happened (laughs). Hope you didn't run out of fingers, Cookie-chan.

**N a g a s h i . n o . k u r o- **Indeed. Glad to see another HitsuRuki fan. (laughs) There's always a fangirl in all of us.

**Wickedsistah1024- **(rubs back of head sheepishly) sorry this wasn't as fast as the second chapter, Wicked-chan. School has been taking books and beating me to the floor with papers and such—sometimes being a sophomore is a pain. (blushes) I don't think I'm fantastic but I'm honored that you would think so. I'm glad you like the story so far. By the way, I also hope you write some more HitsuRuki stories. I liked your "All the Right Moves" story immensely.

**Phoenix-aerith- **Yes they would, wouldn't they? As for the headmasters, you'll find out this chapter (smiles).

**Kimihaine- **That's okay—I'm just glad you reviewed, that's what counts after all (smiles) I'm glad you think I kept Rukia and Renji in character. Brilliant you say? (blushes) wow, thank you for the compliment, though I am unworthy of such praises. You're very kind.

**Phoenixfire3473- **Firey-chan! (glomps you) You reviewed me! Yay! I'm so happy that people from the army like this story. To be honest I thought no one would like it that much. As for your question on when will Toushirou be entering… well, I wouldn't want to spoil it would I? Yes! No! Yes! No! Dah! My brain hurts! (clutches head from thinking too much).

**Shirayukiice- **That's true I guess, but let's go with he's even more dark and possessive I suppose. Yes, HitsuRuki is just so cute! I don't like HitsuHina either.

**KoOri no HouKou- **Sorry for the wait. Hope you enjoy.

**Luna de Artemis- **Thanks for the compliment.

**BloodLustLove- **Totally true on the definition thing. I'm happy that you like the way I portray Rukia as a character. Yes, HitsuRuki is amazing!

* * *

**Spellbinding Sketches**

**Chapter Three: **

**The School**

**-**

**-**

**-**

"RRRRRRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUKKKKKKKKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-CCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!"

It all seemed to happen so fast that Rukia was sure time had skipped a couple of seconds and landed her in this predicament. Her mind was in a hazy blur as she was squished between two somethings.

Oh man, did _she_ feel a migraine coming on.

"Ruki-chan! Ruki-chan!" one of the two cheered excitedly as they held her tightly. Rukia was surprised to feel that this blob was smaller than her petite stature. Their voice was childish and sweet like a little kid's.

"Mm-hmmm, that Uki-kun was right when saying you were adorable. Why if I was a few years younger—"

_WHAM!!! _

Rukia was promptly released from being suffocated by two unknown people she didn't know when she spotted Nanao standing beside her with a vein throbbing on her forehead and her eye was twitching.

"Kyoraku-sama! Please refrain from molesting and/or hitting on Kuchiki-san" Nanao growled out threateningly as she held up a ruler smacking it on her palm in a dangerous manner.

The Kuchiki then turned back to the two people who were only embracing her moments before. Her violet eyes came across a man older than herself—maybe in his early thirties—with curly long brown hair in a low ponytail. His eyes were dark and mischievous along with his cunning grin. Having tiny whiskers on his chin completed his look as he was dressed in a white long sleeve button down shirt with the first few buttons undone and his sleeves pushed up to his elbows and black slacks.

When Rukia looked at the other person, however, she almost fell over in utter shock. There standing about three feet would be a little girl near the age of eight. Short cotton candy locks reached her shoulders as big childlike eyes stared up at her excitedly. She was dressed in a black long sleeved Lolita type dress stopping above her knees and a black choker necklace having a little heart charm with black ballet shoes on her dainty feet. The black ribbons from the shoes criss-crossing all the way up to below her knees. Finally, a big black bow was tied at the back of her head like you would see for Minnie Mouse.

"Oh come on Nanao-chan," the man, Kyoraku, whined, "It's not everyday that a cute young lady walks into our quarters." he told the stern woman while eyeing the ruler warily.

"Na-chan is so mean!" the child whined. "I wanna hug Ruki-chan!" the little girl complained.

Nanao's eyebrow twitched as she gazed upon the two whiners. Her grip around the ruler only tightened threateningly making the two gulp in fear. They knew the glasses woman would carry out her threat if provoked.

"Kuchiki-san is our guest. You will treat her as such" Nanao replied in a final tone. When she said that though, Kyoraku couldn't help but grin slyly.

"Oh! I get it now, Nanao-chan! Of course I wouldn't replace your loveliness for Rukia-chan! My, how easily jealous you get—"Too bad he was interrupted when said lovely woman gave him a hard bash on the head with her ruler.

"Idiot…" she muttered when he was on the ground twitching in pain and terror. Once she was finished torturing the annoyance known as Kyoraku, she turned to the speechless Kuchiki girl who was just blinking in surprise.

"I apologize Kuchiki-san," Nanao said sincerely. "I didn't think they were going to pounce on you until they introduced themselves. My mistake" she bowed to the younger woman.

"Erm… no problem" Rukia responded with a raised eyebrow. "So… who are they exactly?" she questioned Nanao.

Before the glasses woman could respond, however, the pink haired little girl latched herself on Rukia's waist again. Her big innocent eyes staring up at her happily.

"You mean you don't know? Well then, I'm Yachiru! You like cake, don't you Ruki-chan? We can have some cake together if you want! I like cake! Don't you like cake Ruki-chan?" the child said in all one breath making Rukia a little dizzy.

"Yeah… cake's good" Rukia agreed slightly alienated by her surroundings.

"Oh! I almost forgot! This is Kyo-chan!" she pointed to the man still twitching on the floor as she clung to the Kuchiki. "Kyo-chan was excited to see you too! You're so cute, Ruki-chan! Even cuter in person!" Yachiru praised the girl and nuzzled her head into Rukia's stomach.

"Aa! I agree with Yachiru-chan!" Kyoraku sprang up from the floor with no bruises or any signs of injury whatsoever. "Your picture doesn't do you justice Rukia-chan! My, what luck it is to have you here with us." he said to the girl who was absentmindedly running her hair through Yachiru's hair.

"Alright, I think that's enough Yachiru-sama, Kyoraku-sama" Nanao said and pried the pink haired child off the petite black haired girl. "Again, Kuchiki-san, my apologies" Nanao said to Rukia.

"No problem, but _who_ are they?" Rukia repeated her question. So this is what Renji felt like when she tackled/glomped him—dizzy and disoriented. Maybe she should lighten up on the tackling…

Nah, it's too much fun.

"Really? You don't see it?" the two nutjobs questioned. Two identical grins arose on their features as they spread their arms out wide and exclaimed proudly, "We're the Headmasters of Da Vinci Academy! Welcome Rukia-chan!"

_WHAT?! _

"WHAT?! YOU SERIOUS?!" Rukia exclaimed with her eyes the size of saucer plates. Her jaw was open in shock while looking at the two up and down trying to find some flaw to their claim. There was no way these two were the headmasters of one of the most prominent schools for centuries!

Nanao stood next to her with her head bowed in shame. A black gloom cloud over her as she stood shoulders slumped beside the Kuchiki girl.

"Believe me, Kuchiki-san, I still don't want to believe it either" Nanao said as if she too couldn't believe she was working for these people.

"Hey! That's not nice Nanao-chan!" Kyoraku said looking hurt. "I'm a great headmaster!" he told the two doubtful women with pride.

"Kyo-chan's the best!" Yachiru cheered.

_There's no way. There's no fricken way, _Rukia looked at them dubiously. _There has to be someone else running the school! There's no way this school would be so elite with these two in charge! _

"I see everyone is already introduced" a new, yet somewhat familiar, voice chimed in chuckling.

Rukia whipped her head around quickly to face none other than her new acquaintance Ukitake Juushirou. The same kind smile still present on his features as he walked into the room.

"Ah! Uki-kun! You've arrived. How was your trip?" Kyoraku questioned the white haired male. Ukitake smiled in greeting.

"It went well. I've taken care of my business successfully" he told the dark haired male, but for a flicker of a second, Rukia could've sworn Ukitake had turned his eyes to her when he said that before looking back at Kyoraku.

"Ah, Rukia-chan," Ukitake said turning his eyes to her. "It's good to know you made it here safely" he smiled that same cryptic smile that made her tilt her head to the side slightly.

"Thanks for dropping me off" Rukia bowed choosing to swallow her questions. Right now wasn't the time to ask neither how he knew she was heading here nor what he was doing here.

As if Nanao read her mind, she spoke up.

"Ukitake-sama is Kyoraku-sama and Yachiru-sama's adviser for Da Vinci. He does all of the organizing and business attributes for Da Vinci including accepting students and working out expenses" Nanao explained. "Basically he does all the work while these two—"she jabbed a thumb at Kyoraku and Yachiru—"just waltz around acting like morons" she told Rukia.

_Now _**that**_ I can believe, _Rukia thought looking at the two goofballs known as the headmasters, _So Ukitake-san does all the work after all. _

"Na-chan! You're so mean!" Yachiru told the older woman.

"Yeah! I do some work I'll have you know!" Kyoraku said to the glasses woman. Nanao turned her gaze to look at him with an expression clearly stating "Yeah right".

"Sitting around at your desk all day drinking sake` doesn't count" Nanao stated flatly.

"He drinks all day?" Rukia asked.

"Are you interested in sake`, Rukia-chan?" inquired Kyoraku turning his attention to her.

"Now, now Kyoraku," Ukitake said coming over to where Kyoraku and Rukia were. "It's not proper to offer students—especially under aged ones—alcohol"

Kyoraku just shrugged lazily as if feeding alcohol to a minor didn't bother him at all.

"And here I thought I would have another drinking buddy" he said forlorn. Rukia didn't even bother commenting… though she always _did_ want to try sake`… hmmm.

If Renji were here he would definitely agree she belonged with these nuts.

But he's not so Rukia doesn't have to put up with his comments. Hah!

"Rukia-chan, now that you've been introduced to Kyoraku and Yachiru, perhaps you would like to be lead to your room to get some sleep? Classes start in a few hours and Nanao-san will get you settled in with your schedule before they start" Ukitake suggested to the raven haired girl. Rukia couldn't help but nod tiredly feeling a need to consume another one of her painkillers.

"Awww, but I want Ruki-chan to stay longer" Yachiru complained at having to depart from the petite eighteen-year-old. Ukitake patted her shoulder sympathetically.

"You'll see Rukia-chan at meals." Ukitake tried to sway the young child. "Plus you can always invite her to the office to play" he told the pink haired girl.

"You mean this isn't the headmasters' office?" Rukia asked. Looking around, the place was very clean and elegant. She was sure this was where they worked.

"No, the headmasters' live in a whole different part of the building. Students aren't allowed to go there unless invited" Nanao explained to the eighteen-year-old. Rukia nodded in understanding.

"I'll be sure to have Ruki-chan come and play! It will be fun!" Yachiru told the older woman. Rukia nodded a little not knowing wither to be grateful for the attention or concerned at the fact that one of the headmasters is a child.

"If you please, Kuchiki-san" Nanao gestured to the door. Rukia nodded and followed her out. The door made a resounding click leaving the remaining three alone.

Kyoraku let out a sigh and plopped down on the couch as Yachiru grew a solemn look. Ukitake looked at Kyoraku waiting for him to speak.

"Ukitake," Kyoraku said, "Did you notice anything about her? Anything strange yet?" he inquired to the white haired male.

"No, nothing at all." Ukitake replied seriously. "Just an ordinary girl. I tried talking to her in a different language to see if she had that ability yet, but her accent was broken and she spoke as if she had learned it instead of just knowing it without trouble" he explained.

"I see" Kyoraku sat back thinking. After a while of not saying anything, he looked thoughtful at the ceiling, "Maybe we got the wrong person…?" he suggested.

"I don't think that's the case" Yachiru said in a calm tone unlike her loud voice moments before. "She's gotta be one. Perhaps she's just a late bloomer." Yachiru said.

"But her birthday was months ago!" Ukitake said as he remembered Rukia's file. "Surely by now she would've shown _some_ signs of being—"

"I think Yachiru's right. She could just be a late bloomer. After all, we haven't seen one of _those_ for centuries now. We need to take all the precautions and possibilities when it comes to this." Kyoraku interrupted Ukitake.

"But what if we're wrong!" Ukitake exclaimed. "We could have picked the wrong girl and placed an innocent girl into the lion's den without protection!"

"Ukitake," Kyoraku said sternly—something completely outside his enthusiastic and laidback character. "You should know that we wouldn't be as careless as to do something as put an innocent into the lion's den. She'll be fine here—normal or otherwise"

"And the others?" questioned Ukitake with a raised eyebrow, "I'm pretty sure _they_ won't be happy if word gets out an ordinary person got into here"

"_They'll_ just have to suck it up then" Yachiru said thinking about 'them'. "True we're on shaky terms, but _we_ are still in change over _them_"

"I agree." a new voice said.

The three occupants of the room turned to see a man in his early thirties with raven hair down a little past his shoulders and dark eyes. Each of them looked upon him with solemn respect.

"But I doubt it will come down to that" the man said to them walking into the room. "I'm positive we are not wrong" he told the others.

"You mean you're positive _you're_ not wrong, am I right Byakuya?" Kyoraku said with a tiny smirk. The man, Byakuya, only stared at him with an impassive expression. Kyoraku—quite used to his unresponsive nature—laid back with his arms behind his head. "Not that I doubt your intuition one bit" he told the raven haired man.

"For now, we'll observe and keep everything quiet from her as she seems to not know anything" Byakuya said. "The same goes for everyone else in the school. No one will know about her supposedly being an ordinary child"

"But what if she just _stays_ an ordinary child?" Ukitake asked Byakuya. "Yes, you're probably right on her identity, but we have no way of knowing when she'll, if ever, develop out of that dormant stage" Ukitake said to them.

"It _will_ happen" Byakuya said with a final tone in his voice. "Whether it's by her own or by the influence of her surroundings, dormancy has the ability to unlock itself when it thinks it's ready whether the person wants it to or not"

"And what of Rukia-chan?" Ukitake asked them. "Have you thought about how she'll feel when it all comes out? About how much she'll hate us? About how much she'll hate _you_?" he directed the last question to Byakuya. "Please reconsider while we still have a chance. If she's just ordinary then there's no need to bring her here. She'll be happier in the end that way if we let her go" Ukitake pleaded.

He didn't want this for Rukia. Sitting in that car with her and talking with her—he saw her as the person she was and not for the thing they suspected her to be. For once of observing Kuchiki Rukia all these years, he's seen that she's just a regular person with dreams and aspirations. That she has spirit and determination. That she was joyous and free—things he didn't want to take away from here by bringing her to Da Vinci.

"You're being ridiculous Ukitake," Byakuya said turning to walk out the door, "It won't come down to that. Living in ignorance won't do her any good" and with that, he left the room leaving the three in silence.

_But it will give her happiness, _Ukitake thought solemnly.

**----------------------------------------**

Rukia and Nanao walked along the dark hallways in comfortable silence. Rukia turned her gaze at Nanao for a second before looking ahead of her. She repeated this action a couple of times before deciding to speak. She was never one for silence anyway.

"So, you work for them?" Rukia asked.

"Yes, sadly" Nanao replied.

"How did those two become the headmasters anyway?" Rukia asked Nanao.

"Family business" Nanao replied curtly.

"They let an eight-year-old be a headmaster?" Rukia deadpanned.

"You'd be surprised" Nanao said as they walked along.

"I have a feeling you're right about that" Rukia said tiredly slumping her shoulders while wheeling her suitcase along. Her duffel bag was placed over her shoulder with her precious Chappy inside.

They were currently walking down a long, dark hallway with red carpeting. The ceiling wasn't as tall as it was when Rukia was traveling through the outside of the school but they weren't tiny either.

Finally, the two women stopped in front of a single door with the number _213 _in gold. Nanao took out a key and unlocked the door with a click. Once it was unlocked, she turned to the younger woman.

"This is where you'll sleep and such. I hope you find it to your liking. Meals are in the dining hall with Breakfast at seven o'clock sharp. Students are expected at one o'clock for lunch and six o'clock for dinner. Classes start at seven fifty and end at three twenty. Anything else you need to know?" Nanao ended with a question.

"Um… my schedule?" Rukia said sheepishly with a hand rubbing the back of her neck. Nanao nodded and handed her a piece of paper with her classes on it. With that, Rukia said she couldn't really think of anything so that was it.

"Very well, see you in a few hours Kuchiki-san. Try to get some sleep" Nanao bid her farewell. Once Nanao left, Rukia took her stuff and new room key inside shutting the door behind her.

Gazing at the room, Rukia was pleased to see it was only slightly larger than her old room back in Japan. The walls were a light lilac and her bed had simple beige blankets and a violet comforter folded at the end of the bed. Her pillows were snow white as her curtains—like the ones in her and Renji's apartment—were transparent white. Next to the bed was a night stand with a small lamp on it. Over to the side a few feet away was a desk, with the window being in between the bed and the desk, and chair—her tired eyes lit up when she noticed it was a spinney chair—for working with the desk painted white. Across from the bed on the other side of the room was a white dresser. She then noticed two white doors one by the dresser—in it she saw a simple bathroom—and the other one near the foot of her bed meaning it must've been a closet. To top it all off, her floor was without carpeting meaning it was a wooden floorboard style floor—something easier to clean in case she dropped paint on.

Letting a small smile light up on her features, Rukia tiredly walked towards the bed removing the covers as she did so. Not even bothering to change, the young woman took off her shoes and retrieved her Chappy bunny. Once she was done with that, Rukia plopped down into the covers for a blissful slumber.

----------------------------------

Rukia Kuchiki let out a loud wail as she raced down the giant hallways of Da Vinci. Not even bothering to change out of her clothes from yesterday, the raven haired girl skidded a turn and searched around for her classroom on Art History.

"I can't believe this! How could I sleep in late two days in a row?! This is ridiculous! They better not punish me or anything just because I'm late! It ain't my fault I don't have a damn map!" Rukia ranted on frustrated as she ran around mindlessly looking for her classroom.

Ah yes, readers, Rukia Kuchiki once again slept in. You're probably all letting out a sigh of "Of course" with a knowing expression on your features. After all, we've seen that Rukia has a tendency to sleep like a log in the last chapter and it was even stated by her best bud Renji so how can you not have an all knowing look on your face when the words "Rukia" and "slept in" are in the same sentence?

"Why? _Why_ didn't I ask for a map when I had the chance?!" the Kuchiki girl whined to no one as they were all in the middle of classes and she was pretty sure she was just getting out of the dormitories traveling along an abandoned corridor. Looking down at her watch for a split second, Rukia let out another whiny noise before attempting to pick up speed.

It read 11:35am. At least she was only five minutes late for her Art History class. Now if only she can find the damn classroom!

However, Rukia's mind and body had different convictions. Her leg was practically screaming in pain right now making her wince. She knew she should slow down, but she was late! She can take a pain killer when she got to the classroom.

But then again, she really could use a pain killer right about now. Plus, it wouldn't hurt just to pop one in, right? They're _so_ good anyway. And she didn't have breakfast so she deserved _some_ kind of substance, right?

Slowing down, Rukia dug her hand into one of her pockets pulling out the small container holding her pills. Unscrewing the cap—a little difficult on her part. Stupid child locks!—she poured out two pain killers instead of one and put them in her mouth. Swallowing them, Rukia felt more relief now that she had taken some of her pills.

Just then, a soft melody reached her ears making her stop. It sounded like the piano, she realized. Curious, Rukia looked around trying to pinpoint the source of the noise. Noticing two double doors with no others in sight, she approached quietly listening to the haunting melody coming from them. Gently grasping the handle of one of them, she wordlessly pulled it open allowing the hypnotic sound to penetrate her senses without blockage.

Rukia opened her amethyst eyes to look upon the room. The floor was a beautiful beige/light brown marble with white pillars along the white walls attaching to the beige/light brown marble ceiling. It was so clear Rukia could see herself in both like a mirror. Across the vast room were giant windows allowing glorious sunlight to shine through crimson colored curtains.

But what caught Rukia's eye the most was the black grand piano in the middle of the enormous, empty room and its player.

He looked to be around her age—perhaps a year older. Well toned flawless skin with snow white messy hair and jade eyes concentrating on the piano keys. He wore a long sleeve black shirt and dark blue jeans with blue and white sneakers. His hands moved swiftly and without conflict across the keys like a dance.

The melody of the piano rendered her still. It was a dark, haunting melody. Yet it wasn't loud or immense. It was soft and sad—spoke of death and decay to her ears. It was so beautiful and so frightening at the same time. It made her want to close her eyes and listen and make her cover her ears to block it out at the same time. It was ominous resonating in the room.

It was sudden, when his eyes drifted to her in a narrowed stare. His actions were smooth and not abrupt. He continued playing despite the fact that his gaze wasn't on the keys anymore.

He knew she was there; he probably knew ever since she opened the door without any sound. However Rukia didn't make any movement to leave or apologize. She just stood watching the piano and listening.

Slowly the melody died down presenting its close. His fingers lifted and pressed gently on the last keys. Once he was finished, his hands removed themselves calmly from the piano keys without taking his gaze off of her.

His eyes were cold; unfeeling. Yet she didn't turn away nor did she attempt to say anything. It was like a headlock of stares. His fierce glare against her solemn gaze.

And when the door opened once more with a familiar voice announcing their presence, the connection of her eyes staring into his was broken as she turned to see Nanao.

"There you are," Nanao said looking at the Kuchiki girl. "I had a feeling you would've gotten lost. You should've asked for a map" the older woman reprimanded her.

Rukia turned to her fully as her back faced the stranger. She gave the woman an apologetic smile.

"Aa, sorry Nanao-san. To be honest, I didn't think about that thought until I was running through the halls this morning" Rukia said sheepishly to the glasses woman. Nanao sighed and looked at her with a small smile.

"Well then shall I…" she trailed off as she noticed the person behind the Kuchiki girl. Her posture stiffened and her eyes widened in fear and shock. "…lead you to your next class!" the woman finished hurriedly grabbing the girl by her wrist and leading her out of the room.

"Okay then" Rukia said raising an eyebrow at Nanao's behavior. She didn't have time to gaze at the stranger behind her anymore for Nanao dragged her out of there as if they were being chased by wolves.

**--------------------------------------**

"Here we are. Try not to get lost anymore, okay Kuchiki-san?" Nanao asked the younger girl. Rukia nodded with a smile of thanks. "Good, I hope to see you at mealtime then" Nanao told the raven haired girl and bid her farewell.

With Nanao gone, Rukia looked at the door in front of her before checking her watch. Fifteen minutes late. Well, better late than never, right?

That thought in mind, Rukia grabbed the handle and opened the door. The man at the front of the classroom stopped his lecture and turned to the newcomer. He had shaggy brown hair and brown eyes framed by glasses. Instead of making him look like a nerd though, he looked sophisticated as well with the clothes he wore.

"Ah, it seems we have a new guest" he said when he saw her. Rukia nodded and bowed her head embarrassed—her awkwardness around new people kicking in.

She wished Renji were here.

"Y-yes," she replied uncertainly. "I'm Rukia Kuchiki and I'm new here so I got kinda lost…" she trailed off. Nonetheless instead of yelling at her like she would expect he would, the man smiled gently and gestured her to come in.

"Welcome Kuchiki-san. No worries about being late. However, I would appreciate it if you don't make it a habit" he said.

"I won't sir" Rukia said trying to be on good terms with her teachers. Being on good terms with a teacher will always give you benefits as Rukia learned in her childhood and early teen years.

Renji always called her a teacher's pet. Rukia would respond by saying she was getting a one up over him, which was true since their teachers always seemed to like her better.

"Very good. I'm Sousuke Aizen—your Art History teacher. Please take a seat in the middle right there" he pointed in the direction of the leveled desks/tables on the left in the middle of the higher and lower elevated desks. (A/n: think of the desks like the ones you would see in college movies or like in the Ninja Academy from Naruto in episode 3)

"Yes sir" Rukia said and walked up the steps to her seat. Having taken her seat, Aizen began his lesson once more with Rukia taking notes. Surprisingly she found she liked this teacher. Not only had he given her slack but he also was good at teaching a class. At least she could pay attention. She hated it when the teachers droned on and on about a subject not really caring about it.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the door to the classroom opened and someone walked inside. Of course, that didn't distract her, but the reactions of the other students did.

All of them were attentive with expression of shock on their faces or blushes on their faces—obviously from the girls—but not a squeal or sound were uttered. Even Aizen-sensei looked slightly surprised before a smile lifted itself on his features.

"Hitsugaya-kun. I must say it's been a while since you decided to show up to my class" Aizen told the newcomer.

Rukia looked up from her notes and felt her mouth gaping in shock. It was the same boy from before!

_He's in the same Art History as me? _Rukia asked herself. She then turned to the other students saw their expressions, _guess he doesn't come to class much. Meh, what do I care? I have bigger fish to fry… hehehe fish to fry hehehe. Whoever thought of that expression? _

The boy, Hitsugaya, didn't respond but his eyes flickered to a certain spot in the classroom before turning back to glare at Aizen. With his hands in his pockets, Hitsugaya walked up to the back and took his seat on the right side of the room.

Meanwhile Rukia was contemplating on why such a ridiculous expression such as "bigger fish to fry" existed. Then her thoughts drifted to other expressions that sounded funny. She was in the middle of thinking about the "There are other fish in the sea" when she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

Someone was staring at her.

Too riled up from her awkwardness in a new environment blocked out her reassuring narcissistic side. Rukia didn't think anyone would want to stare at her, much less try to burn at hole through her skull with said staring. Yes, she was amazing, but she didn't think anyone here would want to bask in her greatness too concerned with studies.

_Stop staring at me dammit! _Is what she wanted to say. A strong urge to bang her head against the desk was quite compelling at the moment. Rukia bit her lip and tried to concentrate on the lesson in order to ignore the nauseated feeling she was getting in her stomach.

Stupid staring person's fault!

The pencil in her hand was tightened in her grip. Putting all her energy into listening to Aizen-sensei's lecture, Rukia pushed the feeling of eyes boring a hole into her head into the back of her mind.

While the person who was staring at her acted as if they had all the time in the world she was sure! Of course they must be in a relaxed position spending all their leisure time creating a hole in her head with their eyes!

Damn it all.

**------------------------------**

When Aizen-sensei finally declared class as over, every student picked up their belongings and headed for the door. Rukia grumbled to herself grumpily as she fumbled with putting her stuff back in her backpack. Both relieved and frustrated at the situation of her being stared at throughout class, the Kuchiki decided to just ignore it for the sake of doing more important things. No point in wasting her time on the matter.

With that conclusion, she maneuvered herself into the center aisle between the two sets of desks. Consequently, as she did this action she bumped into someone for her not looking ahead instead choosing to look at the floor. A clumsy move on her part she supposed.

"Sorry" she apologized looking up to see it was the white-haired boy. He just looked at her with his jade piercing eyes for a moment before turning away and walking off with his hands in his pockets.

Rukia fumed angrily as he disappeared outside the classroom. She banged her fist on one of the desks in outrage.

_He could've apologized too! Acting as if it's entirely _**my**_ fault! Ass… _she thought in distain for the white-haired male.

Rukia found herself not liking him one bit.

"Ah, Kuchiki-san," the voice of Aizen Sousuke brought her out of her musings. Rukia turned to look at her teacher with a sheepish, shy smile. "Well done in today's lesson. I'm amazed to see you working diligently the whole time. I'm impressed" he told the young woman with kind eyes.

Rukia couldn't help but have her cheeks color from the compliment. In her mind a chibi Rukia kicked a chibi Renji relishing the fact that she got more praises than he ever did. She gave a bow in gratitude before replying to him.

"Thank you, sensei, but it was your lesson that interested me enough to pay attention the whole time. You're a wonderful teacher" Rukia said to him. Aizen smiled gently at her reply.

"I'm honored you would think so, Kuchiki-san" he said giving a slight bow. Rukia gave him a smile. "Now, be off now before you're late for your next class" he ushered her out of the room with a good-natured smile. Rukia bided him farewell and raced down the hallway towards her next class.

Turning a corner, Rukia didn't realize until it was too late that someone was turning the same corner in the opposite direction. Slamming into each other, the other person's things flew everywhere due to the fact that they didn't have a backpack like Rukia to carry their things.

Rukia fell onto her butt on the hallway marble floor from the impact. Pain shot up from her bad leg automatically making her hands grab it and begin massaging it in order to eliminate some of the pain. The other person scrambled around on the floor trying to claim of their things.

"Gomen nasai!" they apologized embarrassed. Rukia turned her gaze to see a girl her age gathering all of her belongings frantically. Her brown eyes were downcast and her chocolate brown hair was in a small bun. She wore tan capri pants and a short sleeved pale pink blouse with brown sandals. Her face glowed red from embarrassment and she looked at if she was about to cry. "I'm so sorry!" she apologized again as tears gathered.

Rukia cursed for making someone cry. She was never good with crying people. Quickly before the tears began to fall, the ravenette worked to make amends.

"Don't worry about it" Rukia said waving her hands in front of her. She proceeded to help the girl with her things despite the screaming pain in her leg. The effects of the pain killers wearing off and from her abrupt fall caused her leg to start its usual pain inducing state. "Hey, it's alright. I'm just clumsy. I should've been watching where I was going" Rukia told her.

"But I wasn't looking either!" the girl protested as if convinced it was indeed her fault for Rukia's misery in the world. "I should be more careful!"

"Well, I should too" Rukia replied.

"But it was me who ran into you!" the girl said.

"But I wasn't paying attention" Rukia shot back sheepishly.

The two of them shot back comments claiming it was them who were at fault before both of them realized what exactly they were doing and both broke into a fit of laughs. Rukia chuckled as the girl held both hands to her mouth to hide her giggles.

"Wow, usually with Renji I'm saying it's his fault instead of mine. Hahaha" Rukia said rubbing the back of her head. "But really, I guess what we're doing is silly too" she added. The girl nodded with her smiling.

"But really, I'm—"Rukia cut her off by placing two fingers on her lips. She waged her index finger in front of the girl with her other hand in a "no-no" motion.

"Enough apologizing, kay? It's not the end of the world. We're both fine—that's all that matters" Rukia said ignoring the white hot pain in her leg. That fall really hurt it, but she hid her reaction to the pain really well. The girl nodded and Rukia removed her fingers from her lips.

_She's kinda cute, _Rukia thought as she observed the girl, _like one of those shy high school girls. Meek but sweet, _Rukia concluded with a fond smile as she looked at the girl. However, inside her mind the smile turned to a grimace and her inner chibi had an eye twitching when she noticed one important factor… the girl was taller than her by two inches. Dammit.

"Hinamori-chan!" someone called making the brunette turn her head to gaze at the newcomer. He was tall with shoulder length platinum blonde hair with his bangs covering one of his eyes. He carried a polite, kind aura around him. Loyal, but perhaps a pushover if Rukia had to pinpoint what he looked like to her.

"Izuru-kun!" the girl greeted when he reached them—a friendly smile on her face.

"What's going on?" he asked her when he reached them. His eyes stopped on Rukia who just gave a light wave.

"Oh, well, that is…" the girl started unsure how to put their whole situation into words.

"Nothing really of consequence" Rukia cut in with a shrug of her shoulders. The pain in her leg was killing her. She really needed to go lie down somewhere before she screamed out all the curses she knew—and some she made up—beyond normal volume because of the pain. "Well, see ya" she said and moved to walk past them intent on returning to her room rather than go to her next class.

"Wait!" the girl called making Rukia look back at her. She twiddled her fingers nervously as she averted her eyes from Rukia's instead choosing to gaze at the marble floor.

"…I'm Hinamori Momo" the girl introduced herself. She then looked at the blonde and introduced him as well, "And this is Kira Izuru-kun" she added. Izuru gave Rukia a smile in greeting to which Rukia returned.

"Kuchiki Rukia" she responded and continued on her way. "Later"

Once she was out of sight, Hinamori turned to Kira with a shy smile. He returned the smile as he knew she was thinking about the girl they've just met.

"She was really nice" Hinamori said to him. "She didn't seem to mind at all about me. Usually anyone else would punish me for something like that" she told Kira who nodded grimly. After all, one must be careful in Da Vinci if they wanted to be safe. No, it was worse than that he was certain.

One must be careful in Da Vinci if they wanted to live.

"It's good to meet people like that. We'll see her again at lunch I suppose" Kira said and the two of them proceeded to their next class.

"Mm-mmm. We should have her sit with us" Hinamori agreed smiling.

**-------------------------------**

It was killing her. The pain. As Rukia lied on her bed, all she could register in her mind was the burning pain in her leg. Dammit; she hoped it wouldn't have to hurt this much.

Finally having enough, one of her shaky hands dug into her pocket desperately searching for her pain killers. God she needed one—she needed one _now_.

However, something made her pause in her movements. No, it was not the pain. But it was something that was in her pocket.

Or rather something _not_ in her pocket.

Hand searching thoroughly as if she couldn't believe it, Rukia's eyes went wide in disbelief.

Her pills. Her pain killers were missing.

_Could it have happened when I bumped into Hinamori-san? _She asked herself blinking. That seemed plausible, but for some reason, her mind said that wasn't the case. Come to think of it, Rukia didn't even recall putting her pain killers back in her pocket in the first place.

A groan of agony escaped her lips while her head fell back on the bed. Damn it all. She was going to have to file for another prescription drug. She was hoping to do that later _before_ her pain killers ran out… or in this case went missing.

Which was a real pain in her ass. It would most likely take a week now to get a fresh batch of pills.

The clock beside her turned one o'clock. Remembering what Nanao said, Rukia knew it was time for lunch. She was opting to skip it for the fact that she was in no condition to go to lunch without cursing out in the dining hall. However, she had not had a decent meal since yesterday and she knew—and felt from her fatigue—that skipping so many meals and only having her pills wasn't healthy.

With that thought in mind, Rukia dragged herself off the bed—as painfully as it was—and crawled—yes, she crawled. Oh lord wouldn't Renji be laughing at her misery right now—towards the bathroom. Yanking the shower curtain away, the Kuchiki picked herself up to sit on the closed toilet and rolled up her pant leg meanwhile removing her shoe and sock. Placing it in the pearly white tub, she reached over towards the water knobs and turned the cold dial to ice cold.

The water was like needles on her skin and she bit her lip to prevent any curses from leaking out. It was the only way after all.

Even though the processing of numbing the pain really stunk.

**-------------------------------**

Ukitake sat at the head of the table in the dining hall along with Kyoraku and Yachiru—who by the way were in their own little world discussing god knows what—while all the students sat themselves further down the long excessively decorated with food table. The structure of the table went by as such—the closer you were to the headmasters the more important you were. Everyone followed this unspoken rule with diligence and without complaint. Here was the order: headmasters, headmaster's associates, teachers, other staff, and then the students.

Byakuya had not joined them choosing to be alone somewhere. He rarely showed up for meals as he had a maid bring him private ones. The white haired man couldn't help but chuckle at his raven haired friend's antisocial personality. Byakuya was always like that it seems.

Suddenly the chair beside Ukitake was filled making the man turn to greet the person. He put on a friendly smile as he knew full well who could have such an undetectable presence.

"Hitsugaya-kun, hello" he greeted the younger white haired male. Hitsugaya nodded back to him to show his greeting. Ukitake and Byakuya were usually the only ones who could get a greeting out of that boy. And even then the greeting wasn't much, but for Hitsugaya's standards that's a lot supposedly.

A light smile appeared on the older snow haired man's features as he looked at the green eyed boy.

"I hear that you attended Aizen-sensei's class today after skipping it for a long period of time. I thought you didn't like him, much less want to be in his class" Ukitake told him, and if you listened closely, you could detect a hint of teasing in his tone.

Cold jade eyes narrowed at him in defense. Normally such disrespect would be dealt with quickly and painfully as possible they both knew, but Ukitake was—reluctantly—an exception.

"It's not like I wanted to sit in that bastard's class like some stupid student, but I was bored so I came to see if—for once—that incompetent fool would have something interesting to say," Hitsugaya said in distain, "Hmph, guess I was wrong" he added as he took on a bored expression.

"Really" Ukitake replied smiling that same smile. The one that said 'That's-not-true-and-I'm-going-to-bug-you-with-this-smile-so-you'll-get-annoyed-and-tell-me'. Hitsugaya hated that smile—and hated Ukitake more.

"Really" the boy agreed with him not giving the older man the satisfaction of annoying him. Suddenly the boy's shoulders tensed and his nose caught scent of something sickeningly familiar.

Ukitake noticed the change in the boy and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. This was something new he's never seen out of the boy. He had to wonder what had actually gotten under the skin of the impassive—if not as impassive as his friend Byakuya—Hitsugaya.

Then that's when he saw it—or rather whom. At the far end of the table, the other side in fact, was Rukia Kuchiki talking to two students who had gestured her to sit with them. One was a brunette girl—tiny, but not as tiny as Rukia—and a tall, lanky blonde boy. Rukia laughed at something the girl said and waved her hand in a 'don't worry about it' kind of way.

He couldn't help that fond smile that reached upon his face as he observed Rukia going bonkers over how much food was spread around the enormous wooden table. Looking like a child on Christmas day, she appeared to by thanking some divine power up above for allowing her to have so much food. Her two companions laughed good-naturedly. He was happy Rukia had made some friends.

Ukitake turned to Hitsugaya to see if he was alright, but when he caught sight of the boy, his heart—he was sure the icy grip of death grabbed it—stopped cold. There Hitsugaya was, perfectly normal, but his icy gaze was staring at something.

Rukia. He was looking at Rukia.

All traces of smiles were gone from Ukitake as his face turned a ghostly white like there was no color left to begin with. The look in those emerald eyes—feral, dark, possessive.

Hungry.

It didn't take long for the gears to click in Ukitake's brain. Rukia's schedule flashed in his mind. She had Aizen-sensei's Art History class. Hitsugaya went to Aizen's class for the first time in forever.

Rukia was _in_ Hitsugaya's class for the first time so far.

He could've sworn his head was spinning—his breathing short and his heart beat erratic. Why? Why had it turned out like this? Why of all the people Rukia could've attracted the attention of—it was _Hitsugaya_?!

A part of him told him he was overacting. That maybe he was jumping to conclusions and Hitsugaya was looking at someone else, but no, he saw clearly he was staring at Rukia.

Staring at her with darkened desire. Of wanting.

"_You should know that we wouldn't be as careless as to do something as put an innocent into the lion's den. She'll be fine here—normal or otherwise" _Kyoraku's words rang in his ears hauntingly.

_That's where you're wrong, Kyoraku, _Ukitake thought mournfully. _We've just offered Rukia-chan to the most fearsome lion of all without even realizing it. _

And thus the wheels of fate began to turn.

* * *

**Karin: Yeah, I know, you guys are probably like "We waited all this time for this piece of crap"? Sorry, I tried to enter Hitsugaya into the story in a more cooler way but I couldn't think of anything. There will be more of him next chapter though. I promise. A lot of you are also probably confused on what's going on, but that will be revealed in due time so please be patient—please don't be mad at me. **_**(puppy dog eyes) **_

**Hitsugaya: No comment—hey wait! Weren't you asleep at the beginning of the chapter? **

**Karin: **_**(snores) **_**zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz**

**Hitsugaya: **_**(sweat drops) **_**Nevermind then. Anyway, please be kind enough to leave a review. We'd really appreciate it. **


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